Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week is almost done. I have a mental list of what I was going to get accomplished this week during my break from school--there are very few items marked off. Instead, we've played outside, visited with family, snuggled, put up Christmas decorations and eaten much too much sugar.














Here I sit, hot apple cider in hand, three little girls in their beds, enjoying naptime. Right next to my pile of laundry waiting to be folded and put away (though the fact that it is already clean is a step in the right direction.) I have homework needing to be done and a test to be studied for.

But this afternoon, instead of doing any of it, my honey and I went on a date. It was wonderful. We took the baby as it was her naptime and the neighbor we've been sharing babysitting duties with would have her hands full with 5 kiddos already. Sweet little E just snoozed in the sling and the stroller, while hubby and I were able to stroll through a couple stores--nothing needed, just looking and enjoying each other's time and company. Crazy how that part of marriage gets lost in the shuffle of life, kids, laundry, etc. It was fun to walk hand in hand and chat without interruption. To drink hot chocolate without sharing or worrying about spills.

We got home, were greeted by little girls running to us with arms outstretched followed by wonderful precious hugs and slobbery kisses. They had a wonderful time, obeyed well and are looking forward to the next time already. Hmmm....tomorrow maybe? :)














Times like this, I want to take a mental snapshot. Something to capture the moment to pull out when I'm having a rough day in the near future, sometime when kids are whiny and crying and I'm not feeling like the mom I want to be. But for now, I'm going to enjoy. Treasure the moment. Be thankful.

carving out a few minutes for myself

Between caring for three children, a husband, a home, working part-time for my parents and going to school full-time, I rarely have a minute to myself. I often taking kids into the shower with me in order to save time by washing us all. The baby is frequently found crawling around in the bathroom whenever I'm in there since she's always happiest around me. I hardly have any desire to be on the computer because I'm feeling guilted into doing homework rather than relaxing. This is my life for now, I guess. When I'm not feeling overwhelmed or exhausted, I'm actually enjoying the challenge. I'm enjoying using my brain, learning and broadening my horizons.

A few little things that I've been doing to stay sane. My hubby bought me an mp3 player for my birthday this summer. I keep that loaded up with audiobooks that I download for free from netlibrary.com. This is one of my favorite things to do--I listen to a book with one ear and listen to the kids with the other. I can frequently be found "plugged in" while doing dishes, cleaning bathrooms and now even driving/walking to and from class. One HUGE saving grace these past few days has been the fact that my husband has taken over doing more baby care in the evenings. Thank you Hubby!! In addition to taking her from me in the evenings, he's been working on getting her to sleep by herself in the pack-n-play rather than being constantly attached to me and sleeping in our bed. For those of you who have co-slept, you know how huge this is. Thanks again, Babe! I love you!

bad mommy award

Want to know a great way to feel like a terrible mommy? It's very simple, really. Just roll your ankle while walking down the stairs carrying your baby. Just that easy, you see the baby rolling on the floor with her head on the edge of the bottom step.

I hear from those who saw it happen, she really only rolled off of me onto the bottom stair, so I didn't really drop her. Not that it makes me feel much better. It all happened so fast I can't even remember if I tripped or what. I went from walking down the stairs to lying on my behind on the hard concrete watching my baby rolling on the ground. Made me feel like an awful mommy and it hurt my pride a bit, too. Not to mention my ankle.....

Mommy, some assistance, please?

E is getting into EVERYTHING these days. She's crawling at an ever-increasing pace, pulling up and this combination is somewhat disturbing to her big sisters.


























Quite frequently, one or the other 'big' girls is hollering for me to move E out of their way or something of that nature. B asked the other day, 'Mommy, some assistance, please?" How very polite. :)

cold, cold go away

Since Monday of last week, we've had coughing, hacking and fevers at our house. I think that there has been at least one child with a fever every night for the past week; generally after having a mostly symptom-free day. We've also had some gut-wrenching cough-induced puking. Chest congestion has necessitated more upright sleeping, which is easier said than done when sharing a bed with a stuffy little one.

On top of all of that, last night baby E swallowed a little hair clip similar to these, resulting in the third threatened trip to the ER of the week (none of which actually materialized.) After much nursing, praying, debating and several calls to the doctor, we decided to wait and see. Don't worry, all is well. Apparently her little digestive tract is fairly efficient because the clip was in her diaper this morning and she seems to be no worse for the wear.

So, pray some prayers for us that we'll all be well soon. We're ready to be out and about playing.

sisters

I've been so incredibly blessed with my wonderful family. To have so many sisters, my best friends, live so close to me has been such a blessing. Now, two of my dear friends have moved away. One because she's now married to a California almond farmer and one to be a missionary in Ethiopia. I miss them. We've had a tradition of taking a sister picture at the mother's day bash that we host every year. These are pictures we'll treasure for years to come. (If you'll look closely, you'll see the top of a screaming baby's head. :D)

Last month we were all together for my sister's wedding, too.

And last week for my sister's farewell party.

One thing that I hope for my girls is that they'll be best friends with each other. That they will take advantage of the built-in friends in their adult years and treasure each other dearly. Sisters are a gift from God.

She's counting the days

My precious baby sister is getting ready to leave on a mission to Ethiopia. She'll be gone for two years. The planning has lasted for about 9 months and we're down to the final week.

Sophie is one of my very best friends. We've coached volleyball together, played volleyball together, talked for hours and so much more. I'm going to miss her desperately.

She's the 'baby whisperer' of the church/family. Where there's a baby, you'll most likely find Sophie there. Here she is snuggling baby E at about a week old.

Pretty much all babies/children love her and she loves them. When B was itty-bitty, she was quite a handful. Sophie spent a few nights over at our house, slepeing on the couch with B so that we could sleep a little bit. She'll take my girls to run errands with her or take them on a walk. She came over last week and watched all three girls for a couple hours while Scott and I went out. It was the first time we'd been on a date by ourselves since E was born.

She leaves on Sunday. Tomorrow we're going to take a day trip to visit some friends 2 1/2 hours away. I'm looking forward to spending the day with her, even if it will be driving for hours with 3 little girls in the back seat.

Yesterday, she was commissioned at our church. When B saw the tears in my eyes, she told me, "It's okay, mommy, we'll still be able to email and talk on the phone." Yes, we will, it's just not the same. I'm not looking forward to this trip to the airport.

I'm going to miss you, baby sister!

when?

Is there a certain time at which I can...
....tell baby E that she's supposed to be a baby still. she's not supposed to be scooting/crawling across the floor. she's not supposed to be clapping and waving. she certainly does look adorable while she does all of the above, though.

...tell my girls "no, you can't watch Tinkerbell.....again....and not break their hearts?" They've been (starting to) watch it at least 3 times a week while I try to work, or do school, or cook or clean. I think they've only watching the whole movie maybe two times, total. We know the beginning very well, though.

7:30am

It's 7:30 on a Wednesday morning. i'm up. all three kids are sleeping. hallelujah!

Last night was my sister's wedding. it was beautiful. the flower girls (B, K and 3 other little girls cousins) were adorable running up the aisle barefoot yelling "the bride is coming!" as soon as K hit the runner on the way up, it looked like she was going to stop and pick up the flower petals that had already been dropped, but then off she went. k was the youngest by more than a year, so was obviously the last to get done. she got back to me with two handfuls of flower petal in hand and was very concerned about it. i was able to coax her to throw them on the floor right there in front of Rebekah without holding up the works too much. it was a definite highlight of the wedding. very sweet.

there was a scorching 'first kiss' which was quite unexpected from the groom. yummy food made by my parents, with some help from hubby. absolutely fantasticly wonderful wedding cake--almond sour cream. YUUUM! almonds left on all the tables as favors since the groom is an a-mond farmer. (those native to the region in cali apparently drop the 'l' in almond.) the happy couple exited under a shower of bubbles. we were all surprised as he hit the gas to make a hasty exit. his family says that they'd never seen him do that. he's quite reserved and thoughtful in all he does apparently. guess he was ready to get on with it. ;) it was a beautiful wedding. they're headed for a week-long trip back to california to start their life together as a-mond farmers.

b lost her first tooth during the reception last night. we wrapped it carefully and put it under her bed for the tooth fairy. the tooth fairy showed up last night and left her with a sweet little note and some quarters, which i'm sure she'll be absolutely thrilled to discover.

we've been sleeping in our new house for almost 2 weeks now. 95% of our stuff is still packed up. we finished getting everything moved in last sunday. we were home getting a bit settled for a couple days then headed up to church camp on wednesday. decided to come home a bit early from that on saturday, celebrated father's day with both dads, one on sat and one on sunday. then had rehearsal/dinner on monday and wedding on tuesday. it's been a busy couple weeks. i'm looking forward to getting settled and start living a 'normal' life again.

i've got truckloads of pictures. i just have to find the cord to load them onto the computer.

One load down

There's a reason for the long, drawn-out absence here.

We're moving.

We took the first load over tonight. Many more to come.

Crazy how an empty house makes the girls turn wild. They were dancing and wrestling, rolling on the floor and 'exercising.' Then, pretty soon someone is crying because the ran into the wall, or fell down or some other earth-shattering horribleness. All in good fun, I guess.

Tomorrow we're hoping to get the bulk of the 'necessities' moved over: pots and pans, dishes and the rest of the things we can't live without while we unpack the garage full of boxes that will come over on Friday with the furniture.

I'm looking forward to getting settled.
To be done living with the move looming over us.
To be able to reassure my children that everything is OK.
To go bask in the sunshine by the community pool.

Oh, did I mention that we'll have access to the community pool? Absolute heaven! We're all excited about that.

Must go feed baby.

More later.